The Aston Martin V12 pairing Stefan Muecke and Frank Yu claimed their second win today during Round 3 of GT Asia Series, held at the tight and technical 3.7km Okayama International Circuit. The Craft Racing AMR duo maintained their advantage throughout the race despite a heavier weight as a result of a decision by the Organiser’s to add 30kg to the Balance of Performance, following their dominant form in Qualifying. As for tomorrow, Yu is starting in second, beside the McLaren of Mok.
Coming in second was the pairing of Hiroshi Hamaguchi and Mok Weng Sun in Team Clearwater Racing’s McLaren 12C GT3. Both were happy with the result and despite being paired for the first time, managed to get used to one another for a podium finish.
Third place went to the Audi R8 LMS Ultra pairing of Alex Yoong and Francis Hideki Onda. The Audis benefitted from a modification to the Balance Of Performance and were able to fight among the frontrunners. Li Zhi Cong finished the race in fourth after fighting his way up the grid from seventh. The Asia Racing Team driver was still getting used to his new 2013 Porsche 997 GT3 R and was still trying to find the most suitable set-up for the track, whilst getting used to the slightly different handling.
The second Audi pairing of Marchy Lee and Jeffrey Lee finished the race in fifth, the duo were struggling to keep a consistent race pace as the handling of the car deteriorated after pushing the McLaren at the start. Behind them was Team Clearwater Racing’s Lamborghini LP560 driven by Ro Charlz and Tunku Hammam Sulong, who were forced to perform a drive through penalty as a result of speeding in the pit lane during their compulsory stop, dropping them down a place and allowing them to finish ahead of the third Audi driven by Franky Cheng Cong Fu and Philip Ma.
The GTM class was won by the Ferrari 458 Challenge duo of Tohjiro Azuma and Naoryu. The Age Age Racing pair were happy to repeat their Motegi win and kept their pace steady despite the pressure from their competitors. Newcomer to the Series, Michael Green, driving in Direction Racing’s Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, was second, finishing ahead of Wayne Shen in the Porsche 997 Cup 3.8.
GT Asia Series continues Sunday, 30 June 2013 with Round 4 held at 1.35pm.
